I am a problem analyzer. I analyze problems and try to come up with possible operational scenarios which, if implemented, might solve the problem being considered. You will note that I do not state that the results of the analysis WILL solve the problem. Only the application of the method to solve the problem will give you the data which will allow you to draw the conclusion that the problem was solved or not. You should also note that I do not advocate a plethora of possible solutions for a particular problem. Frequently there are many solutions for a given problem and some are liked more than others. This preference may be based upon cost, time for implementation, and dozens of other possible measures of success. I don’t address that issue, either.

Why am I writing about this? It was triggered by a political advertisement in the great state of California. The problem focused on illegal immigration. Meg Whitman, a Republican candidate for Governor of California was criticized because her posture agreed with the President of the United States. Their approach offered a form of amnesty. This appears not to be to the liking of the people in the Steve Poizner campaign, another Republican candidate for the  Governor of California who ran the advertisement.

Let’s talk a little about Illegal Immigration. First it might be nice to have some facts. There are roughly 12-20 million illegal aliens in this country. No one knows for sure because the haven’t registered at some official place (police station, city hall, post office, etc) as an illegal alien. So our data is guesswork. The guess comes from people who have studied illegal immigration for years, even decades. While their numbers may not be exact, they are probably about the right order of magnitude.

Some, perhaps many, of these illegal aliens use our health system. They use our schools. They may or may not pay taxes. They don’t pay Social Security taxes, and they don’t pay income taxes. They don’t have a Social Security number. They probably do not have their deductions withdrawn from their paychecks. They are paid in cash, and only pay taxes that are imbedded in the cost of things they buy: groceries, clothes, etc.

The jobs that these illegal immigrants perform within the United States probably do not include serving as professors at our prestigious universities, nor as CEOs of our larger and more successful firms. No, they do the jobs that are the bottom of the employment ladder: menial labor. They clean our houses, they reap our crops, they fix our plumbing, they collect our garbage, and they perform other hard, menial labor. Their children, actually American citizens if born in the United States by virtue of the Constitution of the United States, use our educational facilities.

Now comes the question: what should be done about it? The president has suggested a feasible plan. It meets my criteria for a solution: it could work. He suggests that illegal aliens register, go through the a modified immigration process (modified for these millions of special cases), and become citizens. And, bear their fair share of the burden of keeping this country financially operating. Sounds like a good idea. Oh, there are some conditions. If they are found to be felons, either before entering the United States illegally, or after arriving here, they will be thrown out of the country. No chance to try again. All of the illegal immigrants will, upon registration and found to be allowed to stay, be issued biometric identity cards (can’t be counterfeited) and play a role in the society.

Is this amnesty? Well, in some sense, it is. Those who crossed the border illegally and have stayed in this country, illegally, for perhaps many years, will be rewarded for their tenacity and vision.

OK, you say. But what about not allowing this to happen? What other solutions are suggested? Tell all the illegals to report to the Border Patrol and be thrown out of the country? Hardly a likely scenario. And, if this could be done, which is highly doubtful, then who will do the work which these millions of people have done and continue to do for the past several decades? No more people to perform manual labor. The cost for manual labor will sky rocket, even if you can find some one to till our fields, clean our houses, and perform the other manual labors required which support the operation of our entire society.

For those who cry Amnesty! I pose the following question: What do you propose to do about the problem? How are you going to deal with the problem? What steps do you propose? I personally am very interested to hear about a possible operational methodology. If it is workable then I think it should be considered. But pointing a finger at someone, including the President of the United States, and saying that their solution is Amnesty begs the entire question. We need workable potential solutions. One solution can then be selected by the electorate or the political leaders and implemented.

Does this sound familiar? Have we ever done something like this before? We did. It was called the Volstead Act, implemented in 1919. It helped in the definition of some terms in the Eighteenth Amendment and created what we call Prohibition. The only thing that really resulted from this moral position (not supported by the entire population of the United States at that time) was to convince the criminal community to get organized. And, did it stop drinking? It did not. Not even close. So, it was NOT a solution to drunkenness among the population. I suggest that this might serve as an example on how not to do something.

I believe that there is no possible solution to the problem of millions of illegal aliens in this country except to recognize their existence, the role they play in the United States, and solve the problem as it currently exists. It is not possible to turn the clock back.

I am sorry that we have the problem. But the key point is: we do. And we need a methodology that will solve the problem as it actually exists.